Wig structure

ABSTRACT

A wig structure is built up from a light, porous, relatively close fitting cap of netted material, the outer edge portion of which terminates in a binding which is flexible enough to conform to all head sizes. Flat metallic strips are attached at their ends by snaps into this binding. These strips comprise a grid network. They are of a length to define a head-shaped envelope spaced from the cap and the head of the wearer. A short post extends outwardly from each intersection of this grid network and is topped by a ball. A plate having a socket is removably supported on each ball. Miniature stretch wig sections are removably mounted over each of the plates. Hair is also sewed into the binding. The hair covering the plates and from the binding is preshaped to comprise a desired coiffure. The metallic strips extending outwardly from each post of the grid network overlap with adjacent strips and each overlapping set is frictionally slidably mounted in a clip, so that the distance between adjacent posts can be adjusted to accommodate various head sizes and shapes.

United States Patent Cutler et al.

[451 Feb. 29, 1972' [541 WIG STRUCTURE [73] Assignees: Gary P. Cutler; Suzanne M. Streed, part interest to each 122] Filed: June3,l970

[21] AppLNtL: 42,930

Godefroy ..132/54 Sterling 132/53 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner.l. Q. Lever Attorney-Burd, Braddock & Bartz I [5 7] ABSTRACT A wig structure is built up from a light, porous, relatively close fitting cap of netted material, the outer edge portion of which terminates in a binding which is flexible enough to conform to all head sizes. Flat metallic strips are attached at their ends by snaps into this binding. These strips comprise a grid network. They are of a length to define a head-shaped envelope spaced from the cap and the head of the wearer. A short post extends outwardly from each intersection of this grid network and is topped by a ball. A plate having a socket is removably supported on each ball. Miniature stretch wig sections are removably mounted over each of the plates. Hair is also sewed into the binding. The hair covering the plates and from the binding is preshaped to comprise a desired coiffure. The metallic strips extending outwardly from each post of the grid network overlap with adjacent strips and each overlapping set is frictionally slidably mounted in a clip, so that the distance between adjacent posts can be adjusted to accommodate various head sizes and shapes.

3 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures g 1 INVENTORS GARY P. CUTLER SUZANNE M. STREED BY PATENTEDFEBZS I972 3. 645.280-

sum 1 BF 2 lrrakwzrs PAIENTEBFEBZQ m2 3, 645 28 0 SHEET 2 [1P2 INVENTORS GARY P. CUTLER BY SUZANNE M. STREED flrram/els wrc STRUCTURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to wigs and to a wig structure in which a plurality of miniature wig sections are supported in spaced relation to the head of a wearer.

A major problem in the use of a wig has been the difficulty and expense of caring for the wig and in transporting it from place to place with the necessity of carrying a wig box and a wig form, and in restyling it once it has become disheveled. Another difficulty lies in the fact that once a wig is styled and trimmed in a certain way, it is difficult or impossible to restyle it differently, at least without taking it to a professional hair stylist.

Other difficulties are the closeness and tightness of the wigs on the heads of the users, thus making them uncomfortable and unpleasant to wear for long periods.

In the fitting of the wig of the prior art to a particular head, if a wefting of the exact size is not available, a wefting of too large a size is often selected and fitted over the head of the wearer. It is customary to gather the wefting and the binding in the area back behind the ears and then to stitch through it to cause the wig to exactly conform to the shape of the head. Because the hair fibers are extending outwardly through the wefting, this is difficult to do and often leaves an unsightly and uncomfortable bulge.

Since the advent of the acrylic fiber or synthetic wig, it has been possible to take less care with a wig and still have it in a condition to be made presentable and wearable on short notice and inexpensively. Such wigs, however, are subject to many of the objections set out above, and the wig of the present invention is designed to overcome these objections while making use of the advantages of an acrylic wig fiber, other synthetic wig fibers, or natural hair which, when in the form of the invention, can be stored in a knocked down form and without special care.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A wig of the present invention makes use of from one to any number of desired plastic plates over which miniature stretch wig sections are positioned. Each plate is provided with a socket designed to be removably supported on a mating post and ball which is constituted as an upward rigid extension from an intersection of a grid network of flat strips. The ends of the strips constituting the grid network are snapped into a binding forming the circumference of a porous, relatively close fitting cap of netted material. This netted material is very light in nature and can, in a preferred form of the invention, be of a very open weave, thus to allow free circulation of the air under the grid network and through the netting and natural hair into the scalp.

Because of this arrangement, there is increased comfort to the wearer as the major portion of the wig and its assembly does not come in contact with the greater portion of the head of the wearer.

The cap is precisely fitted to the head of the wearer by gathering the netting at the back of the head of the wearer and pennanently stitching it to conform to the head size. Elastic bands in the binding cause the cap to fit closely, snugly and resiliently in place.

The network strips are adjustable, in that connection between each grid network intersection consists of two overlapping strips which are held in a friction clip. Adjustment will be made so that the network is supported away from the cap to permit free air circulation through the cap netting and under the wig. The spacing between the cap and grid network will be sufiicient to obtain the desired height of the final hairdo without necessitating the use of excessive lengths of hair in the miniature wig sections.

Both the removable plates and the removable miniature wig sections are numbered or color coded so that the entire assembly can be disassembled to clean the wig and easily reassembled. Also, the plates are of various shapes so that when assembled they can constitute many different predetermined hairstyles. By substitution of plates, different hairstyle variations can be obtained. By substitution of wig sections, colors can be changed/The direction in which the hair is extending from the wig section and the direction in which the section is placed while it is snapped onto its post will determine the effect. Due to all these features, the professional hairstylist's services and other setting, brushing, teasing and similar procedures can be eliminated. A simple combing the hair once in the proper direction will cause the hair to fall into place if and when needed or desired.

BRIEF. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front view of a wearer of the wig of the invention showing the wig in place;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the upper right-hand side of the wearer showing a wig cap including netting and binding, a grid network, fastening posts and balls and friction clips in position on the head of the wearer;

FIG. 3 is a view from somewhat similar position but on a reduced scale showing the wig in its final form but providing a dotted outline of the wig plates underneath;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front elevational view of the wig on the wearer with the parts in section and the parts broken away showing the relationship of the head of the wearer, the cap including netting and binding, hair sewed into the binding and extending downwardly therefrom, the grid network, the posts and plates and the miniature wig sections with respect to each other;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of one form of plate used in connection with the invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the plate of FIG. 5 taken on the line 6-6 in that figure;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a fragment of the plate of FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 showing the relationship of wig wefting and the hair fibers of the miniature wig section;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a plate substantially as seen in FIG. 7, but showing its relationship to an intersection of the grid network, the post and ball extending outwardly therefrom, and the miniature stretch wig section;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 10- 10in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary perspective view showing one intersection of the grid network;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 12 12in FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view similar to that shown in FIG. 9, but showing an extended connector useful to obtain additional spacing between the miniature wig section and plate and the grid network.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A wig structure of the present invention is indicated generally at 10 and is shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 displayed on the head of a wearer 11. As disclosed, a soft durable open netting 12 is stitched in any usual or preferred manner into a binding 13 which extends entirely around the wig. Fastened into this binding as by snaps 30 or other preferred techniques are metallic end strips 14 of a grid network 15. In addition to these end strips, the grid network 15 is made up of crossmembers l6 and fastening clips 17. Each of the four free ends of each of the crossmembers 16 are positioned in overlying sliding relationship to the free end of another such crossmember end or of one of the end strips 14. These overlapping ends are held in position by the clips 17 as best seen in FIG. 12, and the relationship of the parts will be such that the ends can be moved longitudinally with respect to each other to shorten or lengthen the overall grid network. The friction between the ends occasioned by the tightness of the clip around them, will insure that there is normally no such longitudinal movement unless it is desired to adjust the overall size of the grid network 15. One or both of these overlapping ends can be deformed by knurling or by offsetting little humps 18 as seen in FIG. 11 to insure tight frictional engatement to prevent all but wanted longitudinal movement. As seen in FIGS. 9, and 11, strips 19 and 20 which make up the crossmember 16 are fastened at their point of intersection by posts 21 as at 22. This allows the strips 19 and 20 to rotate with respect to each other as is necessary to cause the grid network to conform to the shape of the head and to be spaced from it.

On top of each post 21, is an integral ball 23. As shown, this ball is hexagonal in what may be considered as horizontal transverse section. See FIG. 10. Similar posts 21 and balls 23 are also supported in the ends of the end strips 14 which are snapped on the binding. A plate 24 of plastic or similar material of a particular preferred shape is designed to be fastened with respect to each post 21 and ball 23. For this purpose, each plate has a socket 25 extending downwardly therefrom. As shown, the internal surface of each socket is also hexagonal in shape. See FIG. 10. This prevents any rotation of the plate with respect to the grid network.

A miniature wig section is designed to fit snugly and resiliently over each plate. As shown in FIG. 8, such a miniature wig section 26 can include a wefting 27 of stretch material into which the wig fibers 28 have been stitched. See FIGS. 7, 9 and 13.

In order to get a proper pattern of hair for achieving the desired hairdo, the plates 24 can be positioned on the grid network in a shingle-like manner. See FIG. 4 in which the top late is positioned to come over the top edge of the next plate on the right and on the left, and each of these plates in turn come over the top edge of the succeeding plates. This same relationship is seen in FIG. 3 where the outline of the plates is shown. in dotted lines.

As perhaps best seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, some hair fibers are sewed into the binding 13 and extend downwardly therefrom as at 29.

A standard socket length such as seen in FIG. 9, for example, may not always be sufficient to achieve the desired height of the hairdo above the grid network, so an alternative lengthening structure is provided as shown in FIG. 13. As seen in that figure, a particular plate 24 can have an elongated socket 25, and this socket can be made effectively longer by having an external sleeve 32 thereto as by use of screw threads or by friction fit. Thus the sleeve 32 can be positioned so that when it bottoms on the crossmembers 16, the plate 24 will be properly positioned as to height. The size of the hexagonal ball 23 and the socket 25, in each instance, will be such that the plate will be properly frictionally positioned regardless of where the ball comes to rest within the socket. Other fastening, such as an extensible antennalike post, could also be utilized.

Elastic bands about 1% to 2 inches long are situated inside of the binding behind the ear as at 33. In fitting the wig, the netting 12 is gathered at the back of the head and stitched to cause the cap to be held resiliently, snugly and comfortably in place aided by the instrumentality of the elastic bands situated in the binding behind the ears. Because there is no substantial bulk to the netting and no hair extending from it, there are no unsightly or uncomfortable lumps formed.

Once this comfortable fit has been achieved, any adjustments in length of the elements of the grid network can be accomplished by sliding the overlapping end members 19,19 and 20,20 with respect to each other within the clips 17. Next a complete set of plates 24 for achieving the particular style of plates will not rotate once they are in position. The bottom plates will be put on first so that the plates can have the proper overlapping relationship as described above.

Working either with the wig on a wig form or on the head of the wearer, the wig can then be assembled. Because of the arrangement of hair fibers on each wig section and the shape and positioning of each such miniature wig section, the hair will fall into the desired style as the plates are assembled. One light shaping with comb and/or fingers may sometimes be desirable.

When finished, the result will be as suggested in FIG. 1, for example.

When the wig is not to be worn and is to be stored, it can be removed, and the plates and miniature wig sections left in place or they can be taken off. They can also be removed for purposes of cleaning. By use of a numbering system on each of the miniature wigs and plates and by properly identifying the various post positions on the grid network, the arrangement of parts can be rapidly reestablished, and the wig will once again assume the proper shape as suggested in FIG. 1, for example.

We claim:

1. A wig structure including a cap of flexible material of size and shape to fit snugly over a portion of the head of a wig wearer, a grid network extending to spaced encompassing relationship to said cap and made up of a plurality of intersecting flat stiff, flexible strips, the strip ends of said network being fastened to said cap at outer edges of said cap, a plurality of plates a plurality of miniature wig sections, each section being adapted to fasten over one of said plates, and means to fasten particular plates in fixed relation at particular locations on at least some of the strips, said fastening means being constituted as a socket and as a post and ball, one mounted on said grid network and the other mounted on said plate, there being means for selectively extending the effective length of said completed post, ball and socket fastener.

2. A wig structure including a cap of flexible material of size and shape to fit snugly over a portion of the head of a wig wearer, a grid network extending to spaced encompassing relationship to said cap and made up of a plurality of intersecting flat, stiff, flexible strips, the strip ends of said network being fastened to said cap at outer edges of said cap, portions of at least some of said strips being adjustable as to length, a plurality of plates, a plurality of miniature wig sections, each section being adapted to fasten over one of said plates, and means to fasten particular plates in fixed relation at particular locations on at least some of said strips.

3. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said post and ball and said socket are each noncircular in transverse cross section at their point of mutual contact, and wherein at least one of said fastening means includes a sleeve around the socket and extending beyond the socket. 

1. A wig structure including a cap of flexible material of size and shape to fit snugly over a portion of the head of a wig wearer, a grid network extending to spaced encompassing relationship to said cap and made up of a plurality of intersecting flat stiff, flexible strips, the strip ends of said network being fastened to said cap at outer edges of said cap, a plurality of plates a plurality of miniature wig sections, each section being adapted to fasten over one of said plates, and means to fasten particular plates in fixed relation at particular locations on at least some of the strips, said fastening means being constituted as a socket and as a post and ball, one mounted on said grid network and the other mounted on said plate, there being means for selectively extending the effective length of said completed post, ball and socket fastener.
 2. A wig structure including a cap of flexible material of size and shape to fit snugly over a portion of the head of a wig wearer, a grid network extending to spaced encompassing relationship to said cap and made up of a plurality of intersecting flat, stiff, flexible striPs, the strip ends of said network being fastened to said cap at outer edges of said cap, portions of at least some of said strips being adjustable as to length, a plurality of plates, a plurality of miniature wig sections, each section being adapted to fasten over one of said plates, and means to fasten particular plates in fixed relation at particular locations on at least some of said strips.
 3. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said post and ball and said socket are each noncircular in transverse cross section at their point of mutual contact, and wherein at least one of said fastening means includes a sleeve around the socket and extending beyond the socket. 